The Defence Ministry is going to engage with OFB employees federation in a positive and constructive manner on all aspects relating to the corporatization of OFB, said Defence Production Secretary.

New Delhi: After the Defence Ministry clarified yesterday that there was no proposal to privatise the Ordnance Factory Board (OFB), the Defence Production Secretary said that discussions are continuously being held by a committee regarding the corporatisation of the OFB.

As the government is planning to turn the OFBs into public sector units fully owned by Defence Ministry, Ajay Kumar, Secretary, Defence Production said, “Discussions are continuously being held by a Committee of very senior officials of MoD with employees federations of OFB.”

Kumar said that the Defence Ministry is going to engage with OFB employees federation in a positive and constructive manner on all aspects relating to the corporatization of OFB.

“It was also clarified that Govt isn’t proposing to privatise OFB. Any apprehension in this regard is misplaced,” he added.

Last month, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the issue of corporatisation and privatisation of ordnance factories in Kolkata.

“I have been receiving reports about a decision that the government has apparently been taking to corporatise all ordnance factories, including Ordnance Factory Board. I request you to stall and reverse the process in the greater interest of national security,” wrote Banerjee.

OFB employees have been staging protests against corporatization and privatization of ordnance factories.

Currently, the OFB is a defence contractor owned by the Indian government which comprises 41 ordnance factories, nine training institutes, three regional marketing centres and four regional controllerates of safety, spread across the country.